Auxohttp://www.maclife.com/taxonomy/term/14477/all
enRounded Rectangles: Meet the Designer Responsible for My Voided Warrantyhttp://www.maclife.com/article/columns/rounded_rectangles_meet_designer_responsible_my_voided_warranty
<!--paging_filter--><p><a href="http://www.maclife.com/tags/rounded_rectangles"><img src="/files/u330237/2012/11/roundedrectangles_200.jpg" width="200" height="79" class="graphic-right" /></a>I've never been all that interested in jailbreaking.&nbsp;</p><p>As something of a design purist, I often go to foolish lengths to keep my favorite things as they were conceived: I've broken three iPhones due to my hatred of cases. My first home screen is still reserved for the first 10 iPhone OS apps, in order. Each of my 43 pairs of sneakers have their original laces.&nbsp;</p><p>Suffice to say, I've always been more interested in Apple's vision for iOS than anyone else's. But all that changed when I laid my eyes on Auxo.</p><p>What started as a radical idea posted to The Verge's Apple Core forum by Sentry quickly turned into *the* vision for a better way to multitask on the iPhone. As it made headlines on tech blogs across the web, Sentry set to work on making it reality.</p><p>"Auxo started off purely as a concept. The basic idea was always to find an elegant way to pack more functionality into the iOS switcher tray, without compromising on existing features (only two auxiliary pages, volume slider, etc.) or breaking the simple philosophy behind the way multitasking currently works."</p><p>What Sentry designed is nothing short of brilliant. Auxo ($1.99 on Cydia) works exactly the same as Apple's multitasking bar — double-click the home button to display recently used apps, swipe left or right — but everything about it feels fresh, from the retina-optimized thumbnails to the easy access to system settings. In short, it's pretty much exactly what Apple should do.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="/files/u330237/2013/02/0212_rr_400.png" width="400" height="600" /></p><p>And while Sentry is "doubtful that Apple would do anything as drastic as 'reinvent' the app switcher" in iOS 7, he does believe Apple keeps a close eye on these iOS "tweaks."&nbsp;</p><p>"It would be irresponsible of them not to pay attention to what their users (millions of them, at that) are doing with their iDevices. ... many of the feature additions that Apple ends up implementing in new iOS iterations, could have been found as tweaks before that (albeit most likely not as thoughtfully implemented as Apple's)."</p><p>But Sentry sells himself short. Auxo is not only terrifically designed, it's just as thoughtfully implemented as anything Apple's done. While adding a ton of functionality and slick, at-a-glance multitasking, Auxo doesn't upset the integrity of the app switcher in the slightest — it even keeps the linen texture and metallic buttons.&nbsp;</p><p>"Designing natively for iOS is, in many ways, more of a challenge than app-based design is. You have to take into account an entire structure that is already in place, and at the same time improve upon it in a way that not only makes sense but doesn't affect the established UX. In other words, you can design something that is wonderfully beneficial to the user in isolation, but is useless if it doesn't 'fit' into the flow that already exists."</p><p>Auxo fits beautifully into iOS by elongating the app switcher ever so slightly — done by "condensing 16:9 app previews into the width of individual app icons," which gave Sentry a starting point — and making the fairly useless volume/Airplay page one that you actually want to visit.</p><p>Sentry and his team at A3tweaks — Jack Willis, "who is responsible for the actual coding and functionality of it all," along with fellow developers Jamie D and Kyle — have lots more planned for Auxo, including dynamically expanding previews and an iPad version. Rampant piracy may keep them from making the kind of money they surely would see in the App Store, but Auxo is something of a labor of love for Sentry.</p><p>But if Apple called, he would "most likely" take a job, even if it meant shutting down future development.</p><p>I, for one, hope they do.</p><p><em>Find Michael Simon on Twitter or App.net&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/morlium" target="_blank">@morlium</a>.</em></p>http://www.maclife.com/article/columns/rounded_rectangles_meet_designer_responsible_my_voided_warranty#commentsAuxoColumnsDesignjailbreakRounded RectanglesFeaturesInterfaceiPadiPhoneiPodWed, 13 Feb 2013 01:16:04 +0000Michael Simon16219 at http://www.maclife.com